Mrs Joe

Mrs Joe is Pip’s sister. She is only known under her marital title of Mrs Joe Gargery throughout the novel; she is never granted a first name (reflective of the role of the wife in Victorian society). She is a strict and severe woman that has been condemned to a working-class life that she is ultimately dissatisfied with. However, like many other characters in the novel she wishes to be more upper-class than she is. Because of this she constructs a façade in the presence of company above her in the social hierarchy, such as Mr Pumblechook and Mr Wopsle.